CALHOUN ON AGRICULTURAL DISASTER LIST - Clean-Up In Progress

(03/09/2003)

This past week Calhoun and regional residents have started the clean-up after a major ice storm struck the area on February 20th. Crews have been working on cutting trees into manageable lengths along highway right-of-ways. Residents have begun cleaning trees and debris from their yards, pastures and meadows. A few residents remained without phone service until this past week. Governor Wise and state Agriculture Commissioner Gus Douglass are asking the US Secretary of Agriculture to declare 27 West Virginia counties agricultural disaster areas. Calhoun County is among the counties hardest hit with destroyed timberland. OES Director Bill Stemple has asked county residents who received property damage to call 354-9271. The governor's declaration would make residents of counties devastated by last month's snow and ice storm eligible for a variety of federal disaster assistance programs. The storm dumped up to three feet of snow in some areas, resulted in ten deaths and left thousands of residents without electricity and phone service for days. Douglass blames the storm for the collapse of 17 poultry houses, numerous barns and other structures. He says timber stands were destroyed and fences were washed away by the flooding caused by a combination of rain and snow melt. The counties included in the request: Boone, Braxton, Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Gilmer, Hampshire, Hardy, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Lincoln, Logan, Mason, Mingo, Nicholas, Pendleton, Pleasants, Putnam, Ritchie, Roane, Upshur, Wayne, Webster, Wirt and Wood.

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